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Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

A Goal Without A Plan…

When we start another New Year, one of the things that can either be super motivating or horribly aggravating is the whole “New Year, New You” phase.

Sorry if I happen to step on any toes here, but I’m one of those people who tends to be aggravated by it. First of all, when the new year arrived, all that many of us really did was sit in front of our TVs to watch a ball drop at midnight in the East Coast, and laugh at the people standing below it in subzero temperatures. Sure, that’s fun and all, but that hardly constitutes reinventing myself.

Then, of course, we have our Resolutions. Maybe there is some sort of supportive statistical data out there somewhere, but there doesn’t seem to be any grand indication that these things work. As soon as the clock strikes midnight, we flip the page of our bargain calendar that goes from August of last year to August of this year, and suddenly, a “New Year, New You” appears.

Yes, I know that I sound cynical, so maybe O should just spout out my philosophy, which is to LOVE WHO YOU ARE ALL YEAR ROUND. Yes, we have flaws, and of course we want to improve ourselves. But this shouldn’t be something that happens in January and falls apart by March (if we’re lucky). Let’s focus on setting goals that really lead us to making our dreams a reality. Break those suckers down and take them on piece by piece until you can handle chunks without even realizing it.

It’s a New Year, and believe it or not, I’m so glad to see it! I have tons of goals that I want to see become a reality, and it’s encouraging to be even closer to many of them as I write. It’s not because of a calendar change, but because of the gradual, steady changes within myself.

Still, we have so many reasons to be excited about 2018. This year, and every day of it, is a tremendous gift! As we start moving away from the euphoria of closing the door on 2017, let’s work hard to set aside superstitions and phony resolutions as well. Turn those things into real goals, bite down hard, and work to claim what’s yours.

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. Follow her on Twitter,Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for more.